So the Lord determined that I would enter the world’s stage
in a small Midwestern town. Surrounded by the comforts country living offers,
the outdoors became glorious grounds for my imagination to run free.

Early on two passions emerged: academic learning and
writing, which fits well since I am an attorney, professor, and writer.

With this combination, I get to meet so many different and
interesting people. People are the common denominator for my calling, and it’s
my job to encourage them.

Presently, I live in Franklin, Tennessee, which is one of
the most amazing small towns in the country. If you’re ever passing through,
let me know. Perhaps Providence will allow us an encounter and I can learn
about your story, too.

The Determined Time and Place

Twenty years ago, Emery Morgan, said goodbye to her fiancé,
Hayden Bryant, at his graveside: their future cut short by his death in the
Gulf War. She’s kept a vigil in her heart for Hayden’s memory while she’s
filled her life with running a farm and serving the local Franklin, Tennessee
community.

Jackson Carrington, who’s writing a biography about Hayden,
comes to the farm, requesting an interview with Emery.

What ensues is an exchange: Jackson can have the interviews
if he helps Emery on the farm. It doesn’t take Jackson long to express his
desire to court Emery, but her initial rebuffs prove challenging.

Will he break through the barriers of the past to Emery’s
heart? Or will the unfolding events that create confusion for Emery break his?

Why I Wrote The Book

I wrote this story to bring balance to many of the
faith-based books found in mainstream fiction today. I wanted to share a story
about real people with real problems who serve a real God. I also took a
different direction than I've seen in the mainstream faith-based world and
wrote a story involving an older woman and a younger man. I wanted to let
readers know it's okay to think outside the box, because that's where God is.
He's not confined to the perceived limitations of our presuppositions, plans,
or problems.

Excerpt:

Chicken noodle was the elixir of the night for Jackson.
He ate two bowlfuls at the small kitchen table before finishing another glass
of juice. "That was delicious. Thanks." He returned to his room and
slipped back under the bed covers. "I'll be fine by morning."

"I'll bring you some water." Emery tidied up
the kitchen a little and entered Jackson's room a few minutes later. The lamp
on the nightstand was on.

Jackson breathed heavily, deep in a sound slumber.

Emery set the glass on the nightstand and reached to
turn off the light. She hesitated and looked at Jackson while he slept. How
could anyone resist admiring such a handsome face? What could possibly be done
to make him any lovelier? Emery flicked off the light and the moonlight that
cast upon him transformed him into a most angelic sight.

Was it wrong to stand there staring like she did? Was
it wrong to wonder if maybe, possibly, perhaps her heart held just the
smallest, most infinitesimal, minutest spark of feelings for Jackson?

She shook her head as she stood there. You are crazy for entertaining such notions.
He's way too young and too good looking. You're just reading him wrong. He's
not flirting with you; he's just a really nice guy. Who's going to marry a
really nice girl, his own age.

That evening, Emery let low sniffles fill up the
silence of the night. She'd given up twenty years of her life and it was too
late for love. Jackson had his entire life ahead of him. Maybe if we were only five years apart, maybe then. It was so hard
to be honest with herself. She couldn't admit she wanted love and romance, so
she did what she did best, she refused to let the feelings from her youth
resurrect. She piled the metaphorical dirt on top of the grave of her desires,
shoveling heaps of words of discouragement and chastisement. Then she planted
over it soothing, flowery words of false contentment.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Diane Tatum, author of historical fiction stories that will take you back to those unforgettable colonial days.

Diane Tatum grew up in St. Louis, MO. She started writing her own stories in elementary school. Her first novel grew out of a short story she wrote in high school. College was a detour to a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and Business Administration and later a Masters in Teaching Language Arts.

Between degrees, she stayed home raising her boys and began writing again. She started freelance writing for magazines and church Sunday school curriculum. She also finished her novel, Gold Earrings.

After teaching middle school language arts for 11 years, she retired with her husband's encouragement to write the historical fiction books that she had been starting and saving on her computer. Gold Earrings was published in 2011. She completed her second novel, A Time to Choose, in 2012, and finished her third, Colonial Dream, in 2013.

Here is a little more from Diane.

I write Christian historical
fiction. My first published book Gold Earrings is available through Amazon or you can get an autographed copy
through my website.

As a writer, my work tends to be invisible to
those who know me on a daily basis. Especially now that the college semester is
ending, it may seem like I’m just home with nothing to do. I always have many ’irons in the fire’!

At present I am working on a series of novels I call “Faith Amidst the
Crucible of American History”. My hero in each novel is a son of a blacksmith.

The first book in the series is called Colonial Dream.

Two
friends, Colin Browning and Ben Andrews, who want nothing more than to be
Americans, find themselves fighting on opposite sides. Amanda Andrews
Browning must learn to be a strong, independent woman as she supports herself
and her child, Michael, as an embroiderer/seamstress in Colonial Williamsburg while the men are at war.

The second book in this series, Transforming Bitterness Into Joy

Michael Browning has had to raise
his younger siblings after the death of his parents when he was 17. He has had
to set aside any personal life for 12 years as a result, working his father’s
forge to support them. To help him out of his bitter loneliness, Susannah, the daughter of the new pastor at church, decides to play matchmaker.

The third book is the series, A Time to Choose, is set during the Civil War.

Andrew Browning,
blacksmith and officer in the Union Army, is assigned to protect and guide Lincoln.
Maggie is a Northern abolitionist, Harvard-educated newspaper columnist.
Terrors come into their lives as she writes about the war effort, runs a stop
on the Underground Railroad, becomes a target for Andrews’s revengeful
ex-fiancee, and teaches reading to emancipated refugees.

About Diane's writing process ...
What I love about writing fiction is creating characters that become deeper and fuller as the story evolves. It's almost like watching a movie and needing to write it down as fast as possible before the story evaporates! When an idea comes along, I write as much as I can as quickly as I can. The real work comes later when I then flesh out the story from the kernel already written. It doesn't matter where the written portion belongs in the story; I just write "the rest of the story" around the nugget that inspired the idea.

All of the work that I do is inspired by my relationship with Christ. The themes revolve around important ideas from my daily quiet time and preparation for teaching youth Sunday school. Gold Earrings is concerned with not judging people by their outward appearance because God knows their heart. A Time to Choose is about the choices we make and the ramifications of our choices.

In addition, I do freelance writing online for several blogs, the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and Suite101.com. I write about our travels, suggested assignments, and my favorite small business shops.

Shirley Kiger Connolly: Line and Content Editor; Proofreading Editor; Award Winning Author of a growing number of Historical-Inspirational Romances and Nonfiction Books of Reflection. In ministry with her husband, Shirley also serves as KOINONIA Community Director, a teaching and speaking ministry for Christian women. Shirley majored in Journalism and English at SR College and is a graduate of ICL of West Redding, Connecticut.